Police fired tear gas as hundreds of Niger Muslims came out to yet again protest Charlie Hebdo’s satirical cartoons targeting Islam. At least five people were killed and several Christian churches set on fire by rioting crowds throughout the day.

Niger, a former French colony, has been gripped by Charlie
Hebdo-fueled violence since Friday, when a protest rally in front
of a French cultural center led to deadly clashes in which three
protesters and a police officer were killed. Another victim's body was discovered
by emergency services inside a burned church, bringing Friday’s
death toll to five.

On Saturday, Niger police again used tear gas against at least
1,000 aggressive young demonstrators in the capital, Niamey, who
burned tires and pelted the security troops with stones. At least
two police cars were burned out as the angry crowd retaliated
against a decision to ban a march organized by local Muslim
leaders.

At least five people
were killed in the protest on Saturday, police sources said,
bringing the overall death toll to 10. Two charred bodies
were removed from a torched church on the outskirts of the
capital. A woman's body was also found in a bar; she is believed
to have died of asphyxiation from tear gas and smoke, Reuters
reported.

In total, at least eight Christian churches were set on fire and
ransacked across the country, AFP reported, as religious-linked
conflict escalates in the country. The most recent tragedies
bring the death toll in the West African country to eight over
the past two days.

Yemen on Saturday also saw renewed demonstrations against the
Charlie Hebdo cartoons.

Meanwhile, in Russia’s predominantly Muslim republic of
Ingushetia, some 10,000 people showed up to denounce both
extremists hijacking Islam to spread a message of hatred and
violence and those in the west who equate deliberate insulting of
Muslims’ faith with defending freedom of speech.

The protests on Friday after Muslim prayers were held across the
Muslim word, with mostly peaceful rallies reported in Algeria,
Syria, India and The Philippines. In Jordan there were clashes
with police as demonstrators tried to march to the French
embassy, while in Pakistan's Karachi police used tear gas to
disperse a crowd of some 200 people.

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande defended the
pro-Charlie Hebdo drive in the wake of the deadly assault on the
satirical weekly last week, saying it was part of defending
freedom of expression, an essential western value.

"I'm thinking of countries where sometimes they don't
understand what freedom of expression is because they have been
deprived of it. But also, we have supported these countries in
their fight against terrorism," Hollande said of the
anti-Charlie Hebdo rallies.

The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo saw a surge of sales in the
wake of the tragedy. Surviving journalists initially expected a
million of copies to be sold, but now the issue is aiming at a
target of 7 million copies, a far cry from the usual circulation
enjoyed by the fringe publication.

The issue features Islam’s Prophet Muhammad holding a placard
reading “Je suis Charlie” and the headline, “All is forgiven.”
Depicting images of Mohammed is forbidden in Islam and is
considered a grave offense.

Last week, three Islamist gunmen went on a rampage in Paris,
starting with the killings at Charlie Hebdo and continuing with a
hostage-taking at a kosher store. The attacks claimed 17 lives.—
Output - Tim Wall, Today 16:45